By Nicky Ouellet | This article appeared in the Jan/Feb 2016 issue of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation’s “Bugle” magazine, and explores how conservation efforts can benefit big game and upland birds on their shared range.

By Holly Copeland. “So what is your take on the sage-grouse ruling?” This beautiful dancing bird has been in my thoughts almost daily for the past nine years, as it has also been for the hundreds of other scientists who are working on sage-grouse. But suddenly, this species was now in the consciousness of many other Americans, too.

High Country News senior editor Jodi Peterson does an excellent job of introducing readers to the conservation history of sage grouse, and the landscape-scale collaborative efforts underway to save this unique bird and its dwindling habitat.